Provide funding to preserve and protect cemeteries around the UK.

We feel that much more funding for cemeteries is needed to care, maintain, protect and preserve them now and in the years ahead.

We think this is important as babies, children, adults and those in the Armed Forces are resting in cemeteries, their forever home. We feel that these places are where we honour, remember and pay our respects to those we love and cherish with all our hearts. We feel that we all live on through our precious loved one's who have gone before us and the legacies left behind by millions of these people.

We believe that cemeteries are not sufficiently funded when they should be beautiful open green spaces we are all proud of.       

The government does not have day-to-day operational responsibility for burial grounds. However, we recognise the importance of cemeteries as places of remembrance, heritage, and community significance. Their preservation and upkeep matter deeply to families and communities across the UK.

Responsibility for the maintenance and funding of cemeteries depends on their ownership. Local authority cemeteries are managed by individual councils, who are responsible for setting their own budgets and making decisions about local services in line with community priorities. The majority of funding in the Local Government Finance Settlement is unringfenced recognising that local leaders are best placed to identify local priorities.

Privately owned cemeteries, including those operated by religious organisations, charities, or private businesses, are independently managed and do not receive government funding. Their maintenance and preservation are the responsibility of their owners.

The government has issued Guidance for Burial Gound Managers (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7e0743ed915d74e6223a35/burial-ground-managers.pdf) which aims to support good practice across the sector. It is designed to ensure that cemetery managers are familiar with the legal framework in which they operate and to encourage consistent standards of care.

The guidance sets out expectations around maintenance, including:

• A general duty to keep burial grounds in good order and repair, including paths, boundaries, and communal areas. • The need for sensitive and proportionate ground maintenance, balancing practical upkeep with respect for the bereaved and the cultural or environmental character of the site. • Responsibilities for the maintenance of graves and memorials, including safety inspections and appropriate action where memorials pose a risk. • Considerations around environmental and heritage preservation, such as biodiversity, landscape management, and the protection of historically significant features.

The guidance applies to all burial ground managers, regardless of ownership type, and aims to promote high standards across the sector.

The government is also considering longer-term reforms to burial law through the Law Commission’s “Burial, Cremation and New Funerary Methods” project. As part of this, the Commission is considering introducing a general duty for burial ground operators to maintain sites in good order, potentially supported by a statutory code of practice and periodic management plans to encourage consistent standards and enable enforcement where necessary.

The Law Commission anticipates publishing its report on the burial and cremation part of this project at the end of 2025 and the government looks forward to considering this.

Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs